Who can become a HeartSafe Community?

Any city, municipality, county, or organization in MN can apply for the Heart Safe designation through the MN Dept. of Health

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Heart Safe Communities Overview

“Being a Heart Safe Community can save lives.”

Sudden cardiac arrest can happen anywhere, at any time, to anyone – and it is almost always fatal.

Fact: In MN, cardiovascular events (including cardiac arrest) is the second–leading cause of death and responsible for almost 20% of deaths. (MDH) Fact: In 2010, more than 35% of deaths in MN, due to heart disease, happened prior to arriving at the hospital. (MDH)

Fact: More people die of sudden cardiac arrest than breast, lung, colon, and prostate cancer combined.

The Heart Safe program is a proactive program to decrease the annual death rate caused by sudden cardiac arrest within MN.

Friends, family, co-workers, and bystanders are more likely to witness the onset of a sudden cardiac event. Ordinary citizens trained in Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can initiate care and alert the EMS system.